Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rnrpaulsen]

We're looking for recipes for western-style foods that don't involve ingredients that are impossible to find, or prohibitively expensive, here in Korea.

Based on the number of people around here who have lived in this country fo so many years, at least some of you must have some decent recipes to share, so let's all start sharing, and when my wife's parents, who are, shall we say, less than adventurous when it comes to eating, come to visit, they shan't be disappointed.

anyone?

[Zenpickle]

Started work on a web site dedicated to this two months ago.

http://www.zenkimchi.com/FoodJournal

[Swiss James]

salmon is pretty cheap in Korea- lately I've been eating that with new potatoes, broccoli and a mustard sauce.

It goes like this- you get about a cup of 'poaching liquid' which can be a mixture of water and white wine (1/3 wine), or green tea, or vegetable stock or whatever. Heat this up in a microwave till it's boiling.
Then put the salmon steaks in a microwavable container with a lid (this is the hardest bit, finding one of those)- put some salt on there (the big crystals of salt they use for pickling is best), maybe some lemon juice and zest.
Put this in the michaelwave for 5 minutes, and you're good to go.

The mustard sauce is butter, melted. Add cornflour, mix to a paste, add milk, half a teaspoon of mustard powder and some lemon juice. Heat in a saucepan until it bubbles a bit, keep stirring until it gets thick like double cream.

[Chillin' Villain]

[Swiss James]

sorry I thought I'd said- you pour the the liquid around the salmon (not over the top or you'll wash the lemon and salt off) when it's in the microwavable container.
When the fish comes out it should be a nice pink colour and breaks up pretty easily so be careful taking it out of the liquid.

[Chillin' Villain]

Thanks... I would've completely effed it up without that clarification; like, completely saturated the fish with the poaching stuff, and just have a big infusion of salmon, lemon, water, wine, and.... bleh.

[jlb]

Maybe a little boring but I used to eat it all the time when I got home from work. I got free lunch at school so made it my big meal of the day and just wanted something quick when I got home.

French Toast:

Mix eggs (just egg whites to be healthier), some milk, cinnamon. Dip bread in and fry on both sides until brown.

I used to fry up some apples with cinnamon, raisins, butter and brown sugar to make a tasty topping.

Other times, I would slice up kiwi, fresh pineapple, strawberries, etc for topping.

The same toppings also worked great for pancakes. Just get the mix and add eggs and milk.

[riley]

I would say the most important thing to know is a white sauce. It's really easy but with it, you can make other sauces.
You start with butter in a pan. Melt the butter on low heat so that there's a nice puddle of melted butter. Then slowly mix in a cup of flour so that the flour and butter are well mixed and there are no lumps. Then keep stirring until the mix is golden brown. Now mix in a cup of milk. Continue stirring while doing thisand bring it to a boil. The last step is the most boring. You have keep stirring until it thickens while the temperature is as low as it can be.
What makes this so useful is that you can now add cheese to it to make cheese sauces. If you add some ripped up slices of the yellow cheese and a little bit of mustard, it makes a good mac'n'cheese. Add other cheeses to it to make other cheese sauces.

[blunder1983]

I made some AWESOME chocolate brownies last week.

Get 200g of dark chocolate (Lotte stuff worked great for me). Melt it in a bain marie (Pot inside a pot of boiling water) direct heat makes the chocolate burn.

Add one stick of butter and melt (make sure its unsalted).

Take off the heat and add one cup of sugar (I used a mix of brown and white) and add an egg.

Then add a 1/3 of a cup of plain flour and a teaspoon of baking powder and stir in until you have goo. At this point you can add choc chips if ur that way inclined.

Then stick in the toaster oven tray and cook for about 15mins. When it comes out it needs to cool RIGHT down before eating, I threw the first lot out as I was pretty unimpressed, the second batch I left in the tray till morning and was amazed how good they had become, I mourn the loss of the first lot.

One issue I did have though, removing them from the pan was tricky, I had brownie lumps in the end. As they were for co-teachers it kinda sucked their presentation blew.

[Ya-ta Boy]

How about some Chicken Noodle (or Rice) Soup?

I get a whole chicken that has been cut up (but the chicken breasts are fine, too). I put the pieces in a pot with about 4 cups of water and boil the chicken lightly for about 30 minutes, with some cut up onions, celery and carrots. Then I remove the chicken and let it cool, so I can de-bone it. (Obviously you don't have to do that with the chicken breasts.) I also let the broth set for a little while so I can take the grease off the top.

If you have any chicken boullion, add it to the broth. Add pepper. (If you don't have any boullion, also add salt.) Put in some thyme. The more the better, in my opinion, but start with about 1/4 tsp and taste.

Bring the broth and veggies to a light boil and add either noodles or rice.

Soups store well in the refrigerator for those evenings when you are too tired or too rushed for time to cook.

[paperbag princess]

mexican brown rice mexican a la paperbag princess

2/3 tbls olive oil
1 cup of brown rice
1 med onion chopped
2-3 garlic cloves smashed
1 cup of water or veggie stock
1/2 can of black olives sliced
1 small can of corn niblets
1/2 green pepper chopped
1/2 red/yellow/whatever pepper chopped
a bunch of mushrooms finely diced
a can of tomatoes or fresh if in season and nice
1 can of beans (black/kidney) or chickpeas whatever you like
1 cup of salsa
lime juice to taste (optional)
chili powder or mexican spices mix

sautee the onions and garlic until transparent. then add the mushrooms and rice sautee for a minute or two. then add water and everything else. bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for about 1/2 hour. if it needs more water add it by 1/4 cup at a time, but it shouldn't.

this is a great recipe b/c it can be a filling for burritos or eaten on it's own. this is a vegan version, but i like to top it with plain yogurt, cottage cheese or sourcream and cheedar cheese. or avocado, but they're so expensive here. it's a good lunch and full of fibre and protein.

obviously you can use white rice instead, but i really like the nutty flavour of brown rice.

[rnrpaulsen]

These are awesome! Thanks one and all, and keep 'em coming if there are more out there!

[Ya-ta Boy]

Risotto makes a nice change from fried rice.

Put a little butter/oil in a pan and when it's hot, add the rice and some onion. Stir till the onions are sauteed. Add broth (water and boullion if you don't have broth). Cover and cook 20 minutes. Stir in enough Parmesan so the rice sticks together.

You can add veggies, like peas or green onions, at the end for some color. I also add red bell pepper with the rice, for some color.

The rice has a nice nutty flavor.

[Ya-ta Boy]

For unadventurous relatives coming to visit, a big bowl of either macaroni salad or potato salad in the fridge might be a good idea. You can make it ahead of time and serve it for several meals.

Everyone has their own favorite recipes, but here's mine for mac salad:

1/2 package of pasta (any shape...and I like to mix three or four shapes)
3/4 cup mayo
1/4 yogurt (or just use 1 cup mayo)
2 Tablespoons apple vinegar
1 T mustard (the spicier the better)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 stalk of celery
1 carrot shredded
1/3 cup diced onion
1/2 bell pepper, diced. Any color or combo of colors
1/2 cup black olives, sliced
1 cup of frozen peas if you can find them

1. Cook and drain the pasta. Cool.
2. Mix the mayo, yogurt, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Taste to adjust the spices.
3. Stir the veggies into the pasta and then add the mayo stuff and stir.

Refrigerate a couple of hours or longer before eating. Over night is better.

[OiGirl]